Listen To Me!
by Esherymack
Summary: Cross and Allen have a conversation. Little Allen, Parental Cross and Allen, and a random woman I added in the first half. Rated for language and for Allen being beaten with a fan. Under a new pen name.


A/N: So to keep y'all entertained while I slowly work out my updates, I'm writing this oneshot. It's parental!CrossxAllen and little Allen, and some random woman I threw in there. I'm really bored XD

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man; anything recognizable belongs to Katsura Hoshino.

* * *

The sun had begun to set, and Allen Walker was finally on his way back to the small hotel room that he and his master currently held residence in, with some money in his hand. He'd been hard at work all day, in order to scrape together some cash for his master. There were some smudges of dirt on his cheeks, and his muscles ached, but at least the man who'd hired him had paid him some extra for his hard work that day; his master should be somewhat pleased.

As Allen rounded the corner to the street the hotel was on, a young woman wearing a fine dress walked past; she slowed when she saw Allen, and gave him a hard look. Allen looked up at her – _she must be taller than master!_- and gave her a shy grin before he tried to continue on his way.

The woman stepped sideways, still trying to get a good look at him. "Look up here, boy," she snapped. Allen winced and looked up.

The woman prodded his neck with her fan before lifting his chin towards the light, and she scowled when she saw the scar over his eye. "What in God's name happened to you, boy? You homeless? You all alone out here?"

Allen shook his head and nudged the fan out from under his neck. "Miss, I've really… really got to get going… My master's not a patient…"

He was cut off by her again. She snatched her fan back and lifted the arm that had touched it.

She gasped in shock at seeing the dry red skin and the ink-black nails. "You… you're no boy! You're a demon! A monster! Fie on you!"

The few other people on the street looked up at her exclamation, and Allen looked at them in fear. "Miss, really, I'm not…" He was cut off yet again, this time by the woman's wooden fan hitting him over the head.

"Foul beast! Little demon! Fly, now, fly!" She hit him again on the head, this time, the thin nail that held the thin slats of wood together gouging out a line on Allen's forehead. He scrambled back, and kept trying to do so when the tall woman suddenly stopped, and Allen backed right into someone.

"You! You're an exorcist! How about you do something about this… thing!" the woman snapped.

_Exorcist…?_

Allen turned his head just enough to see the black leather and gold trim of his master's coat. His master cleared his throat, and Allen could literally feel the general's crimson eye boring into the back of his skull. "Leave him be, ma'am."

The woman sputtered. "But… but he's a monster! J-just look at his arm! And that scar on his face! A curse!"

"I'm well aware of my apprentice's physical quirks. Trust me. He's no demon; he can't even kill a fly without bawling over it."

Allen felt some heat rush to his face. True, he never liked flies, but they were still life, weren't they? And Mana always told him that all life was valuable… he felt like every time he had to kill something, he was disregarding what Mana taught him.

The woman glared, and gave a particularly cruel look to Allen, before she crossed herself and stormed past, muttering about 'insolent, incompetent, lazy exorcists.'

Cross's boot nudged Allen's back. "Get up, idiot," Cross snapped before walking back to the hotel.

Allen scrambled up, ignored the dark looks from the other citizens, and chased after his master, his head swimming and the cut on his forehead throbbing.

* * *

The night had fallen, Cross was lounging in a chair with a glass of scotch, and Allen was sitting on the bed, Tim hopping around him, forming little indents on the comforter. Allen stared coldly at the dark red skin of his Innocence; a look something like hatred glowed in his eyes.

Cross stared at him and arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you? You're abnormally still." There was no hint of concern in his voice, but there was definite curiosity.

"Why does everyone think I'm some sort of demon, or monster? I'm normal… I'm human… right?" Allen said, his tone downcast.

Cross didn't say anything, just pondered what had happened earlier that day.

"Right?" Allen said, his voice quieter. Cross thought he heard the boy's voice crack.

"Kid…" Cross mumbled. He was never good with this stuff. "You're different, yeah. But that's not a bad thing. I mean… look at me. I'm different, and I'm not all bad."

_Now he's really crying. Great. I guess I_ am _that bad._

Cross pondered for a minute. Then, he made a decision that changed how Allen looked at him forever. He sat down next to Allen and shoved his pride down, out of his mind, where it wouldn't interrupt for the next five minutes. "Kid, look at me, and listen. You're different. Unique, I should say. One in a million. Literally. On top of that, you've created an Akuma, seen the Earl"—here Allen's breath caught with a soft gasp; the day with Mana was an off-limits topic—"and you're my apprentice, which would have been incredible enough alone. You've got a parasitic Innocence, which not even half the exorcists alive have. I dunno what you think, but to me, that's pretty damn unique." Here, Cross pushed Allen's bangs away from the pentacle-shaped scar on his forehead. His fingers brushed against the still-sore wound, and Allen hissed in pain. "What's that?" Cross inquired.

"Her fan cut my head." Allen said bluntly.

Cross scowled and pulled a handkerchief from somewhere in his coat. He dabbed at the wound, and continued speaking. "So tell me. What are you?"

"You said…"

"Not what I said. What are you, already?"

"An orphaned apprentice of an exorcist."

"And?"

"I don't know!"

Cross jabbed Allen's arm. "The hell do you call this lump of meat?"

"Innocence."

"And what does that mean?"

"I'm an accommodator."

"And? What are accommodators on top of being exorcists?"

"Apostles of God…"

"And the last time I checked, apostles of God weren't even close to demons. See, now?" Cross finished.

Allen stared at Cross. He had a vaguely puzzled look in his eyes, before he looked down with a soft smile on his face. "I dunno what the hell's gotten into you, but… thanks, Master." He whispered.

Cross finished cleaning up the wound before answering. "'Welcome, idiot."

* * *

A/N: Hopefully you like this and are somewhat entertained XD


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